


Marnie and the Shark

by mcgarrygirl78



Series: Marnie and the Shark [1]
Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-14
Updated: 2016-05-14
Packaged: 2018-06-08 08:22:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6846829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Leo swears it was his threat that made Bruno stand up but really it was nothing of the sort."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Marnie and the Shark

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I do like to have a bot of fun with the pairings. I believe that Bruno is the father of Margaret's baby and I am going to run with it. Including the fact that she and Bruno have a second child. Stories will not be in chronological order. This is, in fact, the end.

**July 19, 2013**  
CJ sliced her chicken sandwich and reached over to answer the ringing phone. It was a lovely afternoon and she and Donna would spend it traipsing around Manhattan shopping. Tim and Charlie were away at camp, not scheduled to come home for another month. Leo was out to lunch with Charlie...he took the dog with him. These days she could not help but smile at his relationship with Winston. He was definitely man's best friend.

"Hello." 

"Hi CJ. It's Margaret." 

"Hey. We have not talked in too long. Leo and I did get the pictures of Brian and Teddy you e-mailed a few weeks ago. How are they...how are you?" 

Theadora was almost four. She was also Bruno's child. Oh boy, that was a long story. 

"I'm good. Working hard at GW, I just got a promotion and a raise. We just threw Brian an eighth birthday party and I survived about 15 kids trampling through the house. He had a real blast and he loved the gift from you and Leo." 

"I am so glad." CJ replied, nearly struck silent by her guilt. Usually a stickler for dates, she had forgotten Brian's birthday this year. The surprising thing was that Leo remembered, and he put her name on the gift too. "So tell me what's new." 

"Well, actually I called with a bit of a dilemma. If you could even call it that. Normally, I wouldn't call but..." 

"Oh Margaret, don't be silly. I would be glad to help you in whatever way I can. Is it Brian or Theadora?" 

"No, they're fine. He excels at both baseball and soccer, and she is a real artist. It's Bruno." 

CJ found it hard not to shudder when she heard the name. She knew about all the rumors that circulated for a while and as hard as she tried, she could not shake the Manchester disaster. Nothing really happened, a few drunken kisses interrupted by a distraught and angry husband. The thought that she could have strayed from her marriage vows was enough to make CJ guilty for life. Bruno had probably been romancing Margaret then too. 

"Is he alright?" she asked. 

"Yes. He proposed CJ." 

"Oh my God. You're kidding me." 

CJ tried to bite back on her surprised tone but it was too late. Her mind flashed back to Election night at the White House. Bruno was torn between two women whose names CJ no longer remembered. This man was not the marrying kind. Even over 10 years after that day, CJ could be sure of that. Leopards of that nature rarely changed their spots. 

"I'm sorry Margaret." She apologized. 

"Don't be. I had nearly the same reaction. I never thought it would happen for us. I thought we were destined to do the two ships passing in the night routine forever. He has been in DC all summer, spending time with me and the kids. No matter what he has always makes time for his children. It is wonderful; I love when we are all together. Brian has the same mannerisms as his father...even the same voice. And Teddy, she just melts when she is on Daddy's lap. Anyway, he just sprung it on me a few nights ago; said it has been on his mind since Christmas." 

"Ah." 

"Yeah, he says that Brian and Theadora deserve a real family and we deserve to be happy after all these years. We shouldn't have to love each other over e-mails and the telephone." 

"I truly don't know what to say. Does Bruno make you happy?" 

"God yes." Margaret replied. "Is that...?" 

"I will never judge you and you know that. Do you know how many people thought I had a frontal lobotomy when I fell in love with Leo? We've been married for 13 years." 

Margaret laughed. She too had been shocked by the revelation that CJ and Leo had fallen in love. 

"Bruno is just...he is Bruno. He has a million and six faults. Nevertheless, he loves his children. God you should see him; the man-eater thing goes right out the window. He is patient, loving, and funny. I don't know if you have ever heard Bruno laugh but it is something." 

"No, I haven't. It is good that he takes his fatherhood seriously, especially for Brian and Teddy. Still, he is not asking to marry them. For eight years he has been there for his son and daughter but now he says he wants to marry you. What aren't you telling me Margaret?" 

"We're close. I mean, there have been flings between us since Brian was born. We had Theadora after all. I mostly saw it as moments of weakness for myself and the space between for Bruno. I could not allow myself to see it as more...I didn't want to get hurt again. After I got pregnant with Teddy, we just admitted it, that we loved each other. It has been long distance all these years and sometimes our role as parents outweighs that of lovers. This weekend he said no more. He said I was home, and he wasn't leaving home anymore. Then he proposed...one knee and everything." 

Bruno Gianelli said that. Wow, that didn't sound like him at all. It sounded human, like a person with feelings. CJ wished she could have seen it with her own eyes. Maybe they do get smarter after 50. 

"Well, now I guess the question becomes do you love him?" 

"I really do." Margaret laughed and it sounded self-deprecating. "There have been men in my life CJ; good men. If there is one thing DC is full of it is men. I have dated, even seriously once or twice. But Bruno came back and it was like a magnet. I..." 

"What?" CJ asked. 

"I cannot resist him. I've loved him for so long. God, I probably sound so desperate." 

"No. Didn't I tell you I would not judge you? I know what it is like to feel so strongly for a man that your knees go wobbly whenever he is in the room." 

"That is definitely it. And with him spending more time in DC lately, it made me hope we could finally be together for real, you know. Random weekends were starting to get to both of us." 

"You love him and he loves you. Why are you torn?" 

"Bruno travels a lot for work. He wants to move his base from New York to DC, but there will still be 7 to 10 days a month that he is out of town." 

"You're not sure he can remain faithful." CJ finished her thought. 

"I admit the thought has crossed my mind on more than one occasion. Bruno says he has never strayed and I believe him...he has never lied to me. He hates lies. But the distance is hard and I hate that we still have to be apart. I don't want him to think I don't trust him." 

"Maybe you don't trust him. Love and trust are independent of one another. If you voice your concern then Bruno will have to put his cards on the table and you deserve that. The seriousness of his convictions will be evident quickly." 

"I just know how damn giddy I am when he is here. You know, the sheer joy of being the center of someone you love's universe." 

CJ certainly did. Especially since she and Leo just crossed what was surely the largest hurdle of their marriage. Bigger than MS, Haiti, or Abdul Shareef. Coming out on the other side of that made CJ realize how important her husband and their relationship was to her. It was always a work in progress, an unfinished masterpiece. It could not be admired from afar or spoken of in empty conversations. You had to get your hands dirty with it, and if you didn't it never worked. It always had to be a team effort. Always, without fail. 

"Margaret, I don't know Bruno very well...personal Bruno. You may be the only one who does. After years of beating around the bush, he has decided that happiness is at home. You are the only one who can judge his sincerity. This is one of those times when you have to follow your heart." 

"I always follow my heart. That's why I have been heartbroken so many times. But when he told me that he loved me the night I told him I was pregnant again, I felt it in the pit of my stomach. His voice was different, his eyes were different. We both want this; we both want to be happy. I'm happy when he's with me." 

"Your mind sounds made up. Have you discussed this with the kids?" CJ asked. 

"No, not yet. I told Bruno I needed time to think about it and he would become a missing person if he said a word to them. Brian and Teddy worship their father and I know my decision would not be impartial and real if they got wind of it." 

CJ laughed. 

"Mrs. Bruno Gianelli, huh? Any last minutes thoughts or fears?" 

"No. This thing with Bruno and I has been 12 years in the making, and nothing was ever supposed to come of it. Certainly not Brian and Teddy, and not a marriage proposal. You know Bruno calls me quirky Marnie." Margaret laughed. "No one else calls me Marnie...it is our name. Something we share. We make each other laugh CJ, and he gets me. Even the stuff about me I don't always get, he gets it. We're opposites but I think it's fated." 

"Well, if you decide to do this please send Leo and I a wedding invitation. You know we want to be there." 

"How do you think Leo is going to react to this?" Margaret asked. "He thinks I don't know about the multiple threats that he made, but I do. There is so much damn animosity between the two of them and there does not have to be. CJ, you know the moment I told Bruno that I was pregnant the first time and he was the father, he was there. He never scoffed, or asked for a paternity test; he has never been late with a child support payment. It is true that he didn't have the time to spend with Brian that any of us would have liked, but that changed when Teddy came along. Leo swears it's his threats that made Bruno stand up but it was nothing of the sort. His children mean the world to him. They changed him. " 

"Leo has the tendency to protect the people he loves with the ferocity of a pack of wolves. He always feels the need to save his girls, and you know that. Just tell him Margaret...it is not his place to change your mind." 

"Right, but I know he will anyway. If you hadn't noticed, Bruno has the pack of wolves' thing too. Those two are like oil and water and they didn't used to be." 

"Yeah." CJ replied. "Long story." 

"I had a feeling...Bruno gave me an idea of what happened but I never pushed him about it. Even the greatest people make mistakes, and since Bruno is far from the greatest, I know he has a list longer than my arm. After Manchester people whispered for a little while and Leo never got over it. He hates when people attack you. Even though this supposed indiscretion was probably made up." 

"No, it was made up, 100%. I can break the news to Leo; it may be easier coming from me." 

"Would you? CJ I would be forever in your debt. I just hate to upset him, and I don't want him to try to talk me out of this. Bruno and I have waited a long time...we wanted it to be right and it is right now." 

"Yeah, I understand. I will do my very best to break it to him gently. Expect to hear from him though. There is nothing I can do about that." 

"I know." Margaret snickered. "Hold on CJ." 

She took her mouth from the phone and CJ heard her say she was in the kitchen. 

"I should get going. The boys are back and we are all going to have lunch and spend the afternoon out." 

The boys? Yeah, she was already a wife. 

"Call us soon Margaret. Let us know how things are going." 

"I will. Thank you so much for listening...we'll talk soon." 

Just as she heard Bruno's voice in the room CJ said a quick goodbye and hung up the phone. Leo was going to have heart palpitations about this. There was no way for CJ to pretty this up. Margaret was in love and would marry the shark. That's what Leo called him when he was really pissed. It seemed though that Bruno also loved Margaret and she would not allow her husband to overlook that. She heard the joy in Margaret's voice, even though she tried to sound nonchalant and objective. There was nothing objective about love. It happened to you, swept the rug out from under you if you were lucky. Margaret sounded very lucky. CJ picked up her ringing cell phone. 

"Hey Donna." 

"I'm downstairs. Are you ready?" 

"Yeah. Wait until I tell you about the phone call I just got." 

***


End file.
